Am I The Only One Who Almost Has A Nervous Breakdown Every Night At Bedtime?

Is there anything worst than making it through a long day and then having to put pajamas on a three-year-old? Of course there is – I’m being dramatic. But, oh my God if I don’t feel like I am going to lose it every night at around 8 p.m. Am I the only one that almost has a nervous breakdown nightly with the bedtime routine?

I know all kids are different, so maybe I just have an especially “spirited” child. That’s good mother code for “asshole.” Every, single night it’s a fight to get in bed. It starts with the pajama ritual, in which my son acts like I am covering him in a sheet of hot lava he must escape. He swirls around, making it almost impossible to get them on. By the time they are on his body, I am sweating and almost crying.

Then there is the teeth-brushing. He loves it. So much, he wants to do it for ten minutes. This is where I attempt to be patient because I’m not sure I want to be discouraging a child from enjoying brushing his teeth.

When the Prince of Dental Hygiene is finally done, it’s story time. This is the part where he changes his mind about the story he wants to hear about 400 times. Of course, I just get the first book he mentioned, but then he calls for all the other books pretty much through the entire story. Until about the last page, when he magically and suddenly becomes captivated enough to immediately ask, Again? when I’m done.

Then it’s a symphony of Ouch! Mommy! Water! Story! The kid just talks to himself for about an hour, trying to convince me that he actually needs something. Yes, I ignore it – but we have a small house. There is no peace. So the end of every day is spent waiting for him to finally fall asleep – then having about an hour to myself.

Everyone says this ends eventually – and I have to believe them. Because feeling like I’m going to lose it at the end of the day every day is starting to make me feel like a shitty mom.

(photo: Nejron Photo/ Shutterstock)